This was a fun project and the kids were super excited to hear about it. Our son had been asking for a basketball goal for a while but with our limited backyard space and slanted driveway, there really weren't many options. Ciji started looking around and came up with the idea of "why don't we just attach it to the playhouse"? Hmmmm, so I got to thinking that's not a bad idea. I'll just add a couple pieces of wood to make it higher, buy the backboard & rim, mount it and I'm done.
I searched around and found the Lifetime backboard/rim combo and decided that would be a good starter goal so I went to the store to buy it. When I got there, I was amazed looking at the super cool Goalrilla setups! Then I remember, you don't have room for that and my wallet reminded me that was out of the budget so back to the plan. I found the demo model for the goal I was looking for and asked the sales rep if they had anymore and he said no. My plan was ruined. So I looked around and found the standalone rim that you could mount. That's when I made the realized that this would be a more involved project and I would have to build the backboard. I headed over to Lowes to pickup the supplies I needed to get the project done.
Back at the house, time to build this out! I started by cutting the plywood to a 60in x 48in rectangle and painting both sides with black paint. After drying for a day, I measured, marked, taped and painted the center rectangle and outlining border with white paint.
Next was building the support structure to mount the backboard to. I cut a 2x6 60in and attached to the top back of the backboard so I can use that as a ledge to prop to hold the board in place later. I also took this time to cut the holes where the rim would be mounted.
I then cut 2 2x6 pieces into 8ft length and secured them vertically on the playhouse with the 4 1/2 screws. Next, I measured and cut the diagonal support beams from the playhouse monkey bars to the previously mounted 2x6s.
I was now ready to get the backboard up and mount it. I lifted the board up and used the ledge mounted to the back to hold it up while I put screws in it. This proved to be a difficult task and took pretty much the whole family to help give a hand!
After the board was mounted, I added another 2x6 brace across the bottom of the backboard to provide more security, rigidity and to help straighten out the plywood. Time to get that rim up now! I used the hardware that came with the rim and followed the directions. I soon found out that there was a lot of play in the top "U" shaped bolt.
This rim is really meant to be a replacement on an official backboard so I had to improvise to make this work. I added a small block of 1x4 under the "U" bolt which provide the required resistance.
It was finally time to play after 3 days of playing around with the installation. The kids absolutely loved the setup and playing on it. This is another project where we're just trying to work with our little yard and make the most out of it. I believe we accomplished it!
Thanks for checking out my blog on how to add a basketball goal to an existing playhouse!
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